Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Road Rally benefits senior services

Sending participants all over Fallbrook and Bonsall, the Foundation for Senior Care held a different kind of fundraiser Saturday, May 22. Thirty-nine people in 16 cars took part in the Road Rally event, collecting raffle tickets at businesses found by solving a variety of word puzzles. The clues led to participating locations and the scavenger hunt activity made it easy to maintain social distancing.

A registration fee was paid for each car and the participants could buy extra raffle tickets to put into the drawing. At least 20 area businesses took part by hosting stops on the route with some offering extra tickets in exchange for tasks done there. These tickets were entered in a drawing for three $100 bills which were donated by foundation board members. The businesses also contributed prizes to the raffle, and gift baskets for the silent auction.

Picking up our instructions at the foundation, my sister and I chose Route 1 and the first clue led us to the Madd Potter on East Mission (the crazy, lunatic, foolish, wild person who shapes clay). After that, we headed out to Rainbow to visit Flirtin' with Time, an antiques store, then south on Old Highway 395 to Arlan Knutson Insurance where agent Deb Bottomley had us each pick a puzzle piece that happened to both have a dot on the back. So, we each got a puzzle besides the goodie bag each participant was given.

Since I have been working for the Village News for 15 years, the identities and locations of most of the businesses were easy to figure out. The next clue took us to Mike's Flowers "a carnation station that pedals petals on Highway 76." After viewing numerous bouquets of locally grown flowers, we were each given a sunflower to take with us. (They are still looking good a week later.)

Stop #5 was another place I had been before – Bead Gallery, which is near the Bonsall Post Office. The clues for Stop #6 weren't as easy to figure out so we skipped the stop at Avo Med Spa in River Village and headed up South Mission where Fallbrook Irrigation wasn't where I thought it was, another missed stop.

Being right on South Mission, Adolfo & Manny's Pool Supply was easy to find for our next raffle ticket pickup. Stop #9 was one of our favorite places to shop, Burlap Rose, near Albertson's. We then headed up South Main Avenue for the next three places on the route which were also easy to figure out and find – Kahoots, Brother's Bistro and Fallbrook Fertilizer, Feed & Farm Supply on Fallbrook Street. At the last one, I had to find and take a photo of the chicken coop to get the raffle tickets.

At Stop #13, Fallbrook Active Nutrition, participants were asked to take a 10 second video of at least one team member doing a belly dance to earn the bonus ticket. We tried dancing, but didn't take a video.

Downtown Fallbrook had several stops starting with "a place to share a cup of Joe with family and friends" – Kindred Coffee, then on to CR Properties, The Spoiled Avocado (which closed early), and Pressed and Blessed Clothes. That made 15 stops out of the 20 on our list and we decided to stop there and make our way back to the Foundation for Senior Care.

The last three businesses that we didn't get to are A.C.T. Business Group on Vine, Medical Fitness Solutions on East Alvarado, and the Do Gooders Thrift Store on East Mission.

Back at the foundation, we ate lunch first – the spread included delicious barbecued hot dogs, homemade potato salad, bags of chips and homemade cookies in the shapes of cars and trucks. Then we decided which raffle items to place our tickets on and took a look at the silent auction items. All the while listening to music provided by Allen Sargent with help from a few friends.

In the end, we did not win any prizes, but it was a fun day that introduced all participants to old and new businesses that support the foundation and all the services it provides to the seniors in our community.

For information about those services, including the Care Van, Senior Advocates, Computer Learning Center and the Adult Day care, visit https://foundationforseniorcare.org/ or call 760-723-7570.

 

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